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Deliver Us from Evil
"}} "Deliver Us from Evil" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. It premiered on April 29, 1988, and was rerun on September 9, 1988. Summary Hackman is back in Miami after Crockett mistakenly freed him from death row, and his next victim hits Crockett close to home. Plot Two years after getting off death row, Frank Hackman returns to Miami in force. He and his crew invade a home and murder the family living there, including their young daughter. Caitlin is heading back to town for some sold-out shows, and needs to talk to Crockett (who by now has made a full recovery from his near-fatal gunshot wound), but Crockett is forced to put it off as he and Tubbs look at the bodies from the home invasion, finding that the victims suffered 12-gauge shotgun blasts followed by a pistol shot in the head to finish them off. Johnny Blatt and his girlfriend Julia Adams discuss Hackman's plans for a big job, before Blatt loses his temper for petty reasons and begins abusing Julia. Castillo is ready to turn the case over to Homicide when Crockett recognizes the M.O. as unique -- as Hackman's. Although little more than a hunch, he asks Castillo for time to work on it despite a full caseload. Castillo grants him two days. Hackman's wife wants to leave, fearing Crockett will come after them, but Hackman is confident that Crockett works Vice, and therefore has nothing to do with what technically falls under Robbery or Homicide's jurisdiction. Tubbs and Switek go see Izzy (now running a jewellery store), who tells them Blatt may have fenced some of the stolen merchandise through him. Caitlin calls Crockett back to tell him something, but Tubbs interrupts with news that Blatt has left Izzy's store, and Crockett is forced to hang up on Caitlin. Tubbs finds that Julia works for a security company, passing info on big scores to Blatt, who gives it to the rest of the crew. On their way to see Julia, Crockett tells Tubbs how Frankel (his old partner, who was killed by Hackman) once saw a guy who'd twice beaten rape charges and wanted to "beat the living hell out of him," which caused him to realize he was losing his faith in the justice system. Crockett expresses a fear that he is getting to that point, and hopes his hunch about Hackman is wrong. Julia, who has bruises and a possible broken rib, willingly gives Blatt up to them. Crockett and Tubbs head to the warehouse hideout, but Blatt makes them and warns Hackman and his crew. Crockett and Tubbs storm in and shoot down several gunmen, but Hackman and Blatt get away. Hackman's wife is hit in the crossfire and is rushed into surgery. A visibly shaken Crockett calls Caitlin to let her know he can't make her show the next day. Sometime later, Tubbs wakes Crockett up and tells him Hackman's wife is dead. Crockett goes to Castillo for a request to transfer out of OCB/Vice, declining to disclose why or where he wants to transfer to. Castillo gives Crockett a request form, but says he will remain in OCB until his transfer is approved -- and informs Crockett Hackman's wife was killed by a bullet from Hackman's gun, not Crockett's. Blatt viciously beats Julia for selling him out to the cops. Izzy tells Switek and Trudy that Hackman is planning a hit for that night, but couldn't find out where. Crockett goes to see Caitlin in her dressing room, while Tubbs goes to see a badly beaten Julia, who knows where the hit is -- at Club 1235, which is where Caitlin is performing. En route to the club Tubbs repeatedly calls Crockett's car phone, but he's not around to answer it. Hackman kills the stagelight operator and sets up his laser-sighted rifle, taking aim at Crockett. However, due to his belief that Crockett killed his wife, Hackman instead shoots Caitlin, who falls into Crockett's arms and dies. Crockett, drowning his sorrows in whiskey on the St. Vitus Dance and surrounded by pictures of Caitlin, finds the cross Hackman gave him when he got off Death Row. Tubbs stops by just as Crockett gets a phone call from the M.E., which Tubbs takes, to let him know Caitlin was seven weeks pregnant (which is what she tried to tell Crockett but was never able to), which sends Crockett into a drunken rage. Three weeks later, Crockett is still on the boat, cleaning and polishing everything on it (and still drowning his sorrows in whiskey), blowing off Tubbs' efforts to talk to him. Back at OCB, they find Blatt had fled to Chicago but is returning to Miami that night, and Crockett returns to work a day early. Hackman checked into the Virgin Gordor under the name "Crockett", having previously been in Martinique. Castillo returns Crockett's transfer request, unprocessed, saying he thought he'd want to review it first; Crockett expresses his gratitude before crumpling up the request and throwing it away. Crockett and Tubbs observe Blatt returning to Julia's house and take him in, saving her another trip to the ER. He quickly gives up Hackman, who is currently on Caicos Island, which apparently has shaky extradition agreements with the United States. Castillo wants Crockett to get some rest, which he does - on Caicos Island, where he faces Hackman. Hackman tells Crockett that he's set up his retirement home, including making arrangements with the local judge and police about their pensions, and refuses Crockett's demands to "get up". Crockett then gives Hackman his cross back, before pulling his gun. Unfazed, Hackman tells Crockett he knows Crockett can't shoot an unarmed man, just the way he couldn't let an innocent man be executed. He then closes his eyes and lays his head back. Crockett proves Hackman wrong by pulling the trigger, and as he walks away a gun can be seen in the dead Hackman's hand -- though how it got there is unknown. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Guy Boyd as Frank Hackman *Don Opper as Johnny Blatt *Martin Ferrero as Isadore "Izzy" Moreno *Julie Brams as Hackman's Wife *Mary Fanaro as Julia Adams *Sheena Easton as Caitlin Davies-Crockett Co-Starring *Alfredo Alvarez Calderon as Louis *Roy William Cox as Day *John Fasitta as Medical Examiner *Gordon McConnell as Mitchell *Sandra Pereiro as Maria *Vivian Ruiz as Gloria Notes *This episode begins a story arc that runs over the final episode of season 4 and episodes one, two and four of season 5, regarding Crockett losing his wife, suffering amnesia and becoming his alter-ego, Sonny Burnett. *The opening narration states "Previously on Miami Vice", similar to "Down for the Count (Part II)" and "Rock and a Hard Place", but in this case the episode referenced is "Forgive Us Our Debts", from the previous season. This is the third and final time the "previously" opening would be used on the show. *Caitlin's final concert is performed at Club 1235. This club still exists in South Beach (Don Johnson was reported to have visited during Vice's run). Music artist Prince bought the club late in the 1980s and renamed it; it has undergone numerous owner and name changes since, most recently being called Icon. Notably, it appeared in one of its previous guises, Mansion, in the ''Miami Vice'' film, as the location of the opening undercover operation to bust Neptune. *During Caitlin's concert, Crockett is wearing one of his classic season 1-2 outfits (white suit and loafers, pastel pink t-shirt). *The final scene originally had Crockett shooting and killing an unarmed Hackman -- essentially cold-blooded murder -- to show how his dedication to duty had finally been broken. However, NBC censors at the time refused to allow the episode to air unless both men had "equal arms", as Crockett -- the show's protagonist -- was not allowed to commit such an act. (In 1982, CBS generated some controversy when an episode of Magnum, P.I. ''implied that Magnum had shot an unarmed villain.) Consequently, the shot of the gun in Hackman's hand was added to appease them, somewhat diminishing a pivotal moment in the show. *When Crockett is strapping his backup to his ankle, a photograph of him in football gear with his old buddy Robbie Cann (played by James Remar in "Buddies") can be seen on the inside of his locker door. There is also a photo of Crockett, Tubbs and Gina on the ''St. Vitus Dance, which looks as though it is from "One Eyed Jack". *"Deliver Us from Evil" and the title of the Frank Hackman episode to which it is a sequel, "Forgive Us Our Debts", are both passages from The Lord's Prayer. *Hackman's Wife, played by Julie Brams, is presumably not Felicia, played by Gy Mirano in "Forgive Us Our Debts", with whom Hackman had a fling that led to the breakdown of her marriage. *Jan Hammer's haunting melody used in "Buddies" for Dorothy Bain is effectively used here when Hackman's wife dies, and when Crockett asks for a transfer (and gets it back). It has never been officially released. *This episode marks the last time Crockett's Testarossa will be seen for some time -- it does not appear on-screen again until "Line of Fire" in season 5, some seven episodes later. *It's not known what became of the house that Caitlin and Crockett bought earlier in the season, as it is never mentioned again after Caitlin's death. Moreover, we never find out what becomes of Caitlin's clearly considerable personal wealth; unless she had a pre-existing will that specifically stated otherwise, her assets should have gone to Crockett, but he shows no signs of having inherited any amount of money at any point during the show's remaining run. It is possible that Crockett had no interest in material wealth and simply gave any inheritance to good causes (which would in many respects be fitting for his character). Alternatively, Metro-Dade may have been able to take possession of Crockett and Caitlin's combined assets following Crockett's disappearance in the following episode "Mirror Image", and subsequently used them for finances (although this seems perhaps unlikely, as Switek is turned down for promotion several times in the final season with Metro-Dade citing a lack of budget as the reason). *In this episode, it is stated that Hackman's signature method of execution -- which is what alerts Crockett to his return -- is to shoot his victims with a shotgun loaded with slugs and then a .38 pistol. However, in "Forgive Us Our Debts", he does not use a pistol at all when he murders Crockett's then-partner Frankel. This is made obvious in the "previously" segment that opens the episode. *Hackman's fixation with Crockett is shown not only in the fact that he has Crockett in his cross-hairs and cannot shoot him -- possibly rationalizing, correctly, that shooting Caitlin will hurt him more -- but also in the fact that he even calls himself "Crockett" in exile. Crockett seems to represent for Hackman his alter ego -- everything he could have been had he chosen another path in life. *When Crockett shoots Hackman, Don Johnson does not flinch in reaction to the gunshot, a very unusual thing for an actor to be able to do, especially in the 1980s. *This episode, specifically the conversation in the Testarossa between Crockett and Tubbs as they drive to see Julia for the first time, marks the first occasion that Crockett openly admits he is beginning to lose his taste for law enforcement, and foreshadows the burnout story arc that runs across the fifth season. *Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, Crockett tells Tubbs in the same scene that once a police officer reaches the point where he is willing to go outside the law to get vengeance on a criminal (as is ultimately the case for him in this episode), they have "maybe a year" left as a good cop; Crockett burns-out and quits the force almost exactly one year after this episode, marking the end of Miami Vice. *At least one of Hackman's associates apparently escapes -- while three of the crew (including Hackman's wife) are killed when Crockett and Tubbs raid their hideout, there are at least two men still alive with Hackman fleeing in the getaway car afterwards (one driving and one shooting out of the back window). One of these must be Blatt, but the third man is never seen or mentioned again. *The color of Crockett's eyes changes markedly from episode to episode and scene to scene, perhaps responding to the lighting, but also to his inner feelings -- often green, sometimes brown. When he shoots Hackman, however, they are jet black, as if he is already becoming Sonny Burnett, whose eyes are usually dark. Additionally, his stride as he walks away from the killing is also more constrained than his usual walk, more like his walk as Burnett; Crockett's voice also changes from its usual tone when he briefly speaks to Tubbs while cleaning the St. Vitus Dance, to when he speaks to Hackman before shooting him -- at which point he speaks in a lower, more sinister tone similar to his voice as Burnett. While it is unknown if these changes are intentional or merely coincidence, it could be argued that Crockett's desire for revenge against Hackman caused his Burnett side to begin to surface, making it easy for him when amnesiac to believe it was his primary identity as it was, at this time, at least partly in control. Goofs *At one point Crockett says he's been on the job for twenty years, but in the previous episode his age is stated to be approximately 35 (Don Johnson was actually 38 when this episode was filmed), meaning he would have joined the force at the age of 15; not a likely scenario. In addition, twenty years prior to the episode would have been 1968 -- the height of the Vietnam War. Crockett was serving in Vietnam in 1971 (when he met Danny Allred) and again in 1975 (he was present during the Fall of Saigon), leaving him little time to join the police force during that period. *The shot of Crockett's Testarossa immediately prior to Crockett and Tubbs' first visit to meet with Julia Adams is flipped -- the single side mirror is on the wrong (passenger) side of the car. *When Crockett is remembering the moment Caitlin was shot while sat on the deck of the St. Vitus Dance, the red dot from Hackman's laser sight, which should be visible on her back just before she is hit, is missing. Or that's because this is just the way Crockett remembers it as he couldn't see a red dot from where he was anyway. *The plausibility of Crockett killing Hackman as shown in the episode and not facing some kind of legal repercussions is extremely questionable -- Crockett could not have been there to apprehend Hackman officially as Castillo mentions that they will need to pursue extradition, something Hackman himself states he can block due to his legal connections on the island. Likewise, his suddenly turning up dead would inevitably point the finger at Crockett, who could not possibly hide his presence on the island as a simple check of travel records would immediately prove that he was in the area at the time. Even if Crockett successfully argued that the killing was self-defense, the legality of his going overseas armed and unauthorized to confront his nemesis would be dubious at best. On the other hand Crockett could certainly have found a way to get on and off the island without using official airports and harbours, used an untraceable gun, followed (unsuspecting) Hackman's daily routine and made sure there were no witnesses around when he chose to kill him. He surely was capable and driven enough to plan this to the last detail. Even then he would still be a suspect but since the crime took place in the Caico's it is possible the local (corrupt) authorities just didn't want to bother with asking the US for Crockett's extradition and were simply happy they got rid of someone like Hackman (after, of course, he already had taken care of their pensions as he stated). Production Notes *Working Title: "Love Means Never Having to say You're Busted" *Filmed: March 16, 1988 - March 30, 1988 *Production Code: 63528 *Production Order: 89 Filming Locations *1235 Club, 1235 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (Caitlin's Concert) *Miami Beach Marina 300 Alton Road (St. Vitus Dance) *The Barnacle State Historic Site, 3485 Main Highway, Coconut Grove (Crockett confronts Hackman on Caicos Island) *2538 Lincoln Ave, Miami FL (Johnny Blatt's house) Music *"We Do What We're Told" by Peter Gabriel (Opening flashback from "Forgive Us Our Debts") *"Lazybones" by Hoagy Carmichael (playing at Hackman's place and at end on Caicos Island) *"Don't Turn Your Back" by Sheena Easton (first song performed live by Caitlin) *"Follow My Rainbow" by Sheena Easton (last song performed live by Caitlin and end sequence after Crockett kills Hackman) Jan Hammer Music *"The Talk" (Caitlin considers discussing her pregnancy, and Crockett on the St. Vitus Dance after Caitlin's death) Quotes *"Frankel...a couple of nights before Hackman killed him, we stopped into this bar, on the way home and...Frankel saw a guy in there he'd been trying to put away a couple times on rape charges. The guy had beaten him both times. Frankel said he wanted to take him out in the alley and beat the living hell out of him. He said he figured if he felt that way, maybe he had a year left in him as a good cop. I promised myself I'd quit before I got to that point... I hope it's not happening. -- Crockett to Tubbs *"Caitlin was... seven weeks pregnant." -- Tubbs to Crockett after getting the autopsy report *"Yeah, it took him (Blatt) a long time to give up Hackman--almost 10 minutes!" -- Switek *"I sure as hell know the same way you couldn't let an innocent man be executed, that you can't shoot an unarmed man!" -- Hackman to Crockett *"Wrong!" -- ''Crockett in response after killing Hackman '' Category:Season 4 episodes